Morning all. Been repairing mowers as a hobby off and on for aver 15 yrs but I am stumped with my own mower. The mower is a 20+ yr old (~2004) Honda HRM215K2 hxa which was down to 1 speed (slow). I changed the drive belt and drive cable. For the first 2 mows it worked great (no tranny issue I'm thinking) but now it is back to only slow again. Cable is adjusted properly and there is no fluid leak from the tranny. Frustrating. Belt slipping, pulley?? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Have adjusted the cable in multiple positions but no change in speed--still slow. Why would it work fine for a few hours then go back to one speed? How can I tell if the tranny pulley is bad? Also belt rides on the engine spindle/shaft only, no pulley like the newer hxa's. Could the belts be slipping there?
To me there is too much slack in the belt. Maybe some Honda experts will chime in. You'd have to look at your parts list and see what all is involved. Then say tug on the belt and see if she slips.
Did you use an OEM Honda belt or something off Scamazon?
OEM belt. Thing is new belt was the same as take off (part number wise) but was a bit wider. Put it on anyway and lt worked fine for those 2 mows. Is there a way to snug up the new belt?
Put the old belt back on the other day with same result - slow. Like pushing a sled. Pulley clean and looked like new. What should i look for to tell .. if the pulley is worn out . I think we're close to solving my problem. Thanks again.
If is it a steel pulley, there should be minimal wear. If it is a nylon pulley, there will be a significant wear groove on the center of the chamfered area of the pulley, where the belt rides.
I question how the operation cable fitting in the bracket is. Also, the pull back spring. (Without the engine running) Watch the belt when the handle squeeze portion is activated for the drive to see if the belt tightens up like it should.
If the belt tightens, you may have to dig a little deeper into the drive transmission portion.
Look at your rear wheel bushings, I'm reading thats a problem with the Honda
My Honda pushmower isn't propelling the best either, went to look at belt replacement and found talk about bushing seized.
Just a thought, you stated the machine was designated as an HXA- so it's a hydrostatic drive? If so, shouldn't the transmission oil be changed after 20 years? From what I have seen, as the hydrostatic transmission oil degrades the drive becomes slower and weaker.
Manual states that transmission oil needs to be changed every 1000hrs, which seems to me a bit on the longer side.
Look at your rear wheel bushings, I'm reading thats a problem with the Honda
My Honda pushmower isn't propelling the best either, went to look at belt replacement and found talk about bushing seized.
Looked over everything again yesterday. Tugged one the belt- pulley turns, The cable moves properly. Metal pulley is shiney so can't tell if worn. What I don't understand if that it worked great for 2 mows after I changed the belt and cable. What could have changed??
If the parts book is correct that is a hrdrostatic transmission. Have you checked the oil level? There is a spring that pulls the transmission back to tighten the belt, is the transmission free to rotate? Are the axle bearings getting tight? Is the pulley slipping on the crankshaft (doubt it)?
Unfortunately I think your transmission is failing as it works good cold but fails as it warms up.
There was an issure with the cable and when it was replaced the operating arm on the trabsmission had to be replaced, but that may have been a different model.
Just a thought. The plastic drive shaft bushing has come out in the left drive wheel so there is a little play in axel. Could that possibly be the issue?
